One of my all-time favorite quotes that I have ever read was from Anita Baker, who was a popular soul singer during the ’80s and still performs occasionally, in advance of her singing the anthem before Game 2 of the 2006 World Series in her hometown of Detroit. Someone from the Detroit Free Press caught up with her by phone in her hotel room in Las Vegas, where she was performing before flying to Detroit, and this person asked her to what degree she planned to personalize the anthem. What she said was simple, but incredibly appropo.

“It’s not about me. It’s about the song.”

That is a statement that should be read, memorized and taken to heart by anyone and everyone who ever sings the anthem at a sporting event — and especially by whoever that woman was who played it on a violin before tonight’s game. It wasn’t her fault that the microphone cut out on her early in the song. But it WAS her fault that she added all those contrived flourishes onto the end of it that made the song virtually unrecognizable. Just PLAY/SING THE SONG!!! Don’t jazz it up. Don’t personalize it. Don’t give it any special touches. It’s pretty special already.